The soonest the Haines Borough Assembly would consider a public mask mandate, if it follows Emergency Operations Center (EOC) recommendations, would be when the community has at least nine active cases or is deemed a “high risk” COVID-19 environment for other reasons. At a July 30 townhall, EOC incident commander Carolann Wooton presented a document titled “Haines […]
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Assembly nixes CARES Act requests from food security groups
On July 23, the Haines Borough Assembly’s ad hoc CARES Act committee rejected proposals from two Chilkat Valley food security groups. Discussion at the meeting revealed the groups and assembly members differed in their definitions of food security. Over the course of the past few months, the assembly has been working to finalize a spending plan for […]
Posted inNews, Elections
Candidate filing period opens Aug. 1
The filing period for elected office in the Haines Borough opens Aug. 1, with an Aug. 20 deadline. This year, positions up for election include the Mayor, four school board seats and four on the assembly. Borough clerk and intern manager Alekka Fullerton said she’s noticed increased interest in running. “This year, six or seven people have asked me when […]
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Assembly declines to censure Rogers for manager firing
By Ceri Godinez At a meeting July 14, assembly member Zephyr Sincerny moved to censure Paul Rogers, another member of the assembly, for his involvement in borough manager Debra Schnabel’s firing in May. Sincerny made the motion at the suggestion of resident Ron Jackson, who had filled out a request form to add discussion of […]
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Borough has no plans to consider face mask mandate
A growing number of Alaska communities in recent weeks have considered mandates that people wear face masks to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 infections but, at present, the Haines Borough has no plans to consider such a measure. This month, city councils in Valdez and Seward approved mask mandates, while Juneau and the city of Ketchikan […]
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Assembly drops biomass project
The Haines Borough’s biomass project has been officially disbanded after the assembly voted Tuesday to return a $900,000 Alaska Energy Authority grant. The grant, which the borough secured five or six years ago, was set to expire this fall. It would have partially funded a wood chip-burning biomass boiler system to heat municipal buildings, replacing […]
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Assembly may hold town hall on role of borough manager
The public may have an opportunity to weigh in on the Haines Borough’s next manager. After a meeting July 1, the assembly’s personnel committee is recommending the full assembly solicit community input before moving forward with the hiring process. The borough has been without a permanent manager since the assembly fired Debra Schnabel on May 19. Borough […]
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$850,000 will fund first round of CARES Act business grants
On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly passed a spending plan for $2.1 million in federal COVID-19 relief, the first of three installments the borough is scheduled to receive through the CARES Act. The CARES Act requires the money be used exclusively to cover “necessary expenditures incurred due to…COVID-19” between March 1 and Dec. 30 of this year, […]
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Assembly narrows down use of $2.1 million in federal funds
The Haines Borough is inching toward a finalized plan for how to spend roughly $2.1 million in federal CARES Act funds. In total, the borough is expected to receive $4 million in CARES Act funding in three installments during the course of this year. The borough must spend 80% of its first installment before it receives the […]
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Assembly begins work on ballot measure
On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly’s finance committee gave chair Brenda Josephson the authority to work with staff to draft language for a ballot measure asking voters to approve a draw from the borough’s permanent fund. Assembly member Zephyr Sincerny, who proposed the measure, said the intent is to ask voters to approve a $450,000 draw, roughly […]